EYFS at St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.  At St Mary's Catholic Primary School, we follow the standards set by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework to ensure that all children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe.

It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

We aim to make our school, Nursery and Reception a lively, happy place where children can learn in a positive, Christian atmosphere. We want each one of our children to excel within our Christ centred community where standards are high and our expectations are consistent and clear. Our high expectations apply not only to our children but also to our staff as we strive to develop the best possible learning environment for the children entrusted in our care.

Development Matters

Children are born ready, able and eager to learn. They actively reach out to interact with other people, and in the world around them. Development is not an automatic process, however. It depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments.

Development Matters was produced by Early Education with support from the Department for Education. It is non-statutory guidance which supports all those working in early childhood education settings to implement the requirements of the Statutory Framework for the EYFS.

Development Matters demonstrates how the four themes of the EYFS Framework and the principles that inform them work together to support the development of babies, toddlers and young children within the context of the EYFS framework.  The document also illustrates how the ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ may be supported and extended by adults as well as how they underpin the ‘Prime’ and ‘Specific’ areas of learning and development. The age/stage bands overlap because these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development.

When using Development Matters it is, however, important to remember that babies, toddlers and young children develop at their own rates and in their own ways.  The development statements and their order are not necessary steps for every child and should not be used as checklists.

Curriculum

Our early years setting follows the curriculum as outlined in the latest EYFS statutory framework.

The EYFS framework includes 7 areas of learning and development that are equally important and inter-connected 3 areas, known as the prime areas, are seen as particularly important for igniting curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building children’s capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

The prime areas are:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development

The prime areas are strengthened and applied through 4 specific areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, we believe that Early Years education is important in its own right and should not be viewed simply as preparation for the next stage of children’s education. We believe that the EYFS framework allows a natural progression into the National Curriculum in Year 1.

Intent

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, we believe that the purpose of education is to bring about goodness: human flourishing. We strive for our students to become independent, curious, and creative learners who understand what it means to be human.

As part of the early year’s curriculum, we offer a balance of child-initiated and adult-led learning using purposeful continuous play, focused teacher inputs, engaging and enriching experiences and small group/individual activities; this allows us to explore all seven areas of learning and support children in making progress.

We intend to provide an immersive and engaging environment where children’s learning is not limited but inspired.

Implementation

The Early Years Curriculum is implemented through six different topics throughout the year. Where possible, we use a cross-curricular approach, linking our learning to each topic, but carefully as not to take away from the skills taught in the prime areas of Literacy, Phonics and Maths. Using observations and book work, we can provide individual next steps in learning and support children in making progress. This also allows us to highlight gaps in learning and plan purposeful provision to support children in meeting these needs. 

We place a high emphasis on the relationship staff have with children, utilizing their skills and passions to engage children and promote a love of learning in class. Throughout the year, we also enjoy having class visitors, experiences days and educational visits to develop knowledge of the wider world. 

Impact

We evidence progress through the effective use of observations and assessment. 

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development processes. Staff observe pupils to identify their level of achievement, interests and learning styles. These observations are used to shape future planning. Staff also take into account observations shared by parents and/or carers. Regular, planned and focussed assessments are made of children’s learning and individual needs. A record of each child’s progress in all areas of their learning is kept by retaining and filing their assessment data.

Other methods of assessing children in the EYFS setting include engaging alongside children in their play, annotation of children’s written work, talking with children about their task or play and sharing the large class books.

There is continuous monitoring and assessment of each child’s development using OTrack. This is updated at least once each term to track individual progress. At the end of the year it provides a summary of every child’s development and learning achievements. Judgements made on children’s development are based on practitioners’ evidence of the children’s behaviour observed independently and consistently in their self-initiated activities across all Areas of Learning and Development.

To find out more about the learning that takes place in EYFS, make sure to check out our class page!